We ran a story about a year ago about a woman with mental illness who had sex with a pit bull in broad daylight and was caught doing so by her neighbors. They called the police, who arrived on the scene and arrested her for open or gross lewdness. The dog was taken by Animal Control. A lot of people responded to this story, so we decided to ask a few expert psychiatrists and therapists what they thought about this woman’s behavior and why she did what she did. Here is what these experts had to say. If you have any thoughts about what these experts had to say, feel free to share them in the comments below the article.
The irreverent answer is: because, from her experience, she’s learned that ‘men are dogs!’
The serious answer is: because when bipolar patients are in a manic phase, they are hypersexual – and feel compelled to achieve sexual gratification – regardless of the context.
Their mania makes them act impulsively and, often, they cannot control their impulses. Depending upon how far into a psychotic state this woman was, she may have been delusional, such that, in her mind, what she was doing made sense.
Carole Lieberman, M.D.
Beverly Hills Forensic Psychiatrist/Expert Witness
The bipolar woman who stripped naked in her backyard and was sexually intimate with her pit bull likely chose a dog versus a human man so she could control the sexual encounter. Many women who have bipolar disorder also have borderline personality disorder. These women have a high libido and are very sexual. They love sex and must engage frequently. Seeing that this woman was not well grounded in reality, she may have used her dog as a sexual partner to avoid dealing with the rejection of potential people partners.
Dr. Fran Walfish
Leading child, teen, parent, and family psychotherapist and author in Beverly Hills, CA
I am a treatment professional of sex offenders (as well as victims) and offer these tips on this recent offense:
1. While rare, zoophiliacs generally have other severe mental disorders. Case in point, one feature of bipolars is hypersexuality. If this woman had no other sexual partners, she may have seen this dog as an opportunity for sexual relief. If she does have appropriate adult partners, she may indeed have a real sexual attraction to helpless animals.
2. The fact that she did do so in broad daylight tells us that (a) she wanted to be seen (exhibitionism as another paraphilic feature) and/or (b) felt powerless to control her sexual impulses.
3. Another piece could possibly be her attraction to a potentially vicious breed, love/hate of all males or power figures.
Dr. Nancy Irwin, PsyD, C.Ht.
Therapist/Clinical Hypnotist/Speaker/Author/Life Coach